The Cost of Veterinary Treatment

[InspectorMorse]

Also as people become more educated about the likelihood of different health issues with certain animals, it should only help with such a calculation. Whilst it would be better if they boycotted those breeds,.

I think this has become a factor with all species thanks to social media. The promotion of the latest ‘must have’ designer Pet,be they dog, cat, Rabbit or whatever. It seems that as soon as a so called ‘celebrity’ posts all over Insta’ about their *insert specific Pet* everyone has to have one too. Little thought being given to what it might cost to adequately care for a Pet bred to look a specific way, regardless of the potential detrimental effects on the Pet’s health.

I think the best way forward is to try to find a Vet we trust and are therefore able to have a frank and open dialogue with, with regards to fees. Neither party taking offence and both sides showing mutual understanding and respect.

I am forever grateful to have a Vet whose clinical judgement I trust and whom I trust would never charge me an unreasonable fee. Sadly though, some of the latter is now not within her control as she no longer owns the Practice.

I do think that if more people realised what the true cost of human medical care involved they would not be so shocked at Vet fees. That said, there is a case to be made for the corporate business model putting profit at the top of their list. The argument being that profit goes back into purchasing more advanced diagnostic tools and employing more highly qualified Vets. I am not entirely convinced about that though. I doubt the shareholders do too badly from the large profit margins.

 

[KarenM]

I certainly don't see things in that way and I suspect that probably the majority of RU members don't either.

I wasn't talking about anything said on this thread, or RU members. But I don't think we're very representative of the general public either because there's a lot of hate, both irl and on social media, aimed towards anyone in the veterinary profession.

I haven't seen it on social media in the same way towards those in human health and care professions. There's the general moans about how people can't find a dentist taking NHS patients, for example, but nobody says "Dentists are money grabbers, they don't care about our health they're just in it for the money." It doesn't surprise me, really, that it's happening irl though.

Graciee, that's so sad about the payment plan being refused. It must have been upsetting for both parties to the conversation too, I imagine.

As for Oliver and Freddie.... maybe we should run a competition to see which has eaten the weirdest thing. Crazy thing is, Oliver is sooooo fussy with actual food. But so's Freddie, from what you've said before, so maybe there's a connection. [emoji38]

 

[SarahP]

Yea it was so awful :'( It's really stayed with me, I wish I'd have done something tbh.

My husband witnessed something similar recently at the vets, and he desperately wanted to do something. I was glad I wasn't there!

 

[Graciee]

My husband witnessed something similar recently at the vets, and he desperately wanted to do something. I was glad I wasn't there!

Yeaa it's awful isn't it I kept thinking I could probably help, but I didn't want to embarrass them or idek cause an issue. I'm not always great in social situations like that when people's feelings are involved, coz I wanna help but don't wanna upset people and say the wrong thing.

Thing that annoys me about loans based on credit scores etc (which I totally get why it's done and money isn't free and loans are their business - the lenders) but it's always people that would need one who can't get approved easily. Whereas people who don't need, could easily get one. I'm not sure there's a fix for this etc but it always makes me so sad

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[joey&boo]

Yep, as you said, you can claim going forward for anything arthritis related and you won't pay another excess. The £75 is a one off. It's up to you how you claim - with our dog we put a claim in every couple of mths or so rather than a claim after each visit. I'd just double check your actual policy terms to see if there's anything in there re. how long you have to make a claim.

If you have a lifetime policy, the excess 'resets' in the next policy year, so there'll be another £75 excess to pay.

If it's a time limited policy, you can only claim within the first year. After that, it becomes pre-existing and won't be covered going forward.

Hope that makes sense!

Whoo hoo. Awesome. Thanks karen & yes that makes perfect sense

 

[SarahP]

Yeaa it's awful isn't it I kept thinking I could probably help, but I didn't want to embarrass them or idek cause an issue. I'm not always great in social situations like that when people's feelings are involved, coz I wanna help but don't wanna upset people and say the wrong thing.

Yeah, that's how he felt too. I don't know how people cope working in a vets. I'd be constantly in tears!

 

[halfpenny]

I think it’s a difficult thing to assess costs, regarding vets.
In Aberdeen, many vets are independently owned but no longer do out of hours call, which are all done by vets now. The fees for out of hours treatment is ridiculous. It got to the point that people would call our vets for emergencies, meaning genuine clients would struggle to get seen. They now charge a higher fee and recommend people go to their own vets.
Our vet is now part of a large group and they are more expensive, not for basics but for ops etc, however it’s also got better facilities for clients and staff, more efficient and more staff to deal with how busy we are. It’s unfortunate that the cost of living has risen so much and people are struggling, but even now, we have 2 vets operating, up to 8 ops a day and our waiting list for routine ops is about 2 weeks. Our vets do large and small animal and it is why they do their own out of hours, which does seem to be the biggest issue with cost around here.
Regarding the cost of treatment for humans, I had the carpal tunnel op about 10 years ago, it cost £1200 for each hand ( Mike was with BUPA, at the time). That was a local anaesthetic and I was in and out in a couple of hours. It didn’t include initial diagnosis, a POC or stitches out. We have no idea how expensive human treatment is due to the NHS and this makes us think vet care is expensive. I would also add, we have a medical practice, where you have to call to speak to a doctor, it can take days calling to get through and a 3 week waiting list for an appointment, if you call the vet the chances are you can get an appointment in a couple of days, if urgent that day and if an emergency- immediately.

 

[Barn Yard Bunnies]

Just been quoted £210 for OOH, that's the discounted price as our day vets is linked with them. That's to walk in no treatment. James gone to Tesco for dill and P@H for dandelion root a d plantain. Do this before we might have to go.